Effect of blonanserin on cognitive function in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia

• Published in: Human psychopharmacology 2012-01, Vol.27 (1), p.90-100
• Main Authors: Tenjin, Tomomi, Miyamoto, Seiya, Miyake, Nobumi, Ogino, Shin, Kitajima, Rei, Ojima, Kazuaki, Arai, Jun, Teramoto, Haruki, Tsukahara, Sachiko, Ito, Yukie, Tadokoro, Masanori, Anai, Kiriko, Funamoto, Yasuyuki, Kaneda, Yasuhiro, Sumiyoshi, Tomiki, Yamaguchi, Noboru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Antipsychotic Agents - pharmacology; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; blonanserin; Chronic Disease; cognition; Cognition Disorders - drug therapy; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cognitive ability; Female; Group dynamics; Humans; letter fluency; Male; Mental disorders; Piperazines - pharmacology; Piperazines - therapeutic use; Piperidines - pharmacology; Piperidines - therapeutic use; Prospective Studies; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Quality of Life; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - drug therapy; Schizophrenia - physiopathology; Severity of Illness Index; Single-Blind Method; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0885-6222; 1099-1077
• DOI: 10.1002/hup.1276

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of blonanserin, a novel antipsychotic, on cognitive function in first-episode schizophrenia. Twenty-four antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia participated in the study. Blonanserin was given in an open-label design for 8 weeks. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia-Japanese language version (BACS-J) was administered as the primary outcome measure at baseline and 8 weeks. Clinical evaluation included the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale-Japanese language version (SQLS-J), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness Scale (CGI-S). To exclude the possibility of retest effects on the BACS-J, 10 age-matched patients with chronic schizophrenia treated with blonanserin were tested at baseline and after an 8-week interval. Twenty first-episode patients completed the study. Repeated measures analysis of covariance revealed a significant group-by-time interaction effect on the letter fluency task due to better performance in the first-episode group, but not in the control group. Main effect of time or group-by-time interaction effect on the Tower of London task was not significant; however, the first-episode group, but not the control group, showed substantial improvement with a moderate effect size. All items on the PANSS, SQLS-J, and CGI-S significantly improved after 8 weeks of treatment. These results suggest that blonanserin improves some types of cognitive function associated with prefrontal cortical function.